Good morning, New York. We’re back after the two-day holiday with a wrap-up of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s visit to New York, yet more on the Iron Dome funding brouhaha, lots of Jewish food news, and more.
REMEMBERING: Rabbi Moshe Tendler, a dean of the rabbinical school and a professor of Jewish medical ethics and biology at Yeshiva University whose advocacy allowed Orthodox Jews to donate organs and receive transplants, died Tuesday at age 95. (JTA)
- Tendler served as a bridge between the scientific experts and the experts in Jewish law and ethics, writing articles in the top medical journals as well as for Jewish scholars.
SPEAK, PRAY, LOVE: The Israeli premier had a homecoming of sorts Monday evening, observing Shemini Atzeret at Kehilath Jeshurun, the Upper East Side synagogue he and his wife Galit attended in the early 2000s. (JTA)
- “I love New York a lot,” Bennett told the congregation. (Jerusalem Post)
- In his first speech to the UN General Assembly Monday, Bennett warned of the dangers posed by Iran, touted Israel’s response to COVID as a model for the international community — and downplayed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (JTA)
- Speaking to Jewish leaders here Monday, Bennett took a different approach than his prickly predecessor, Benjamin Netanyau: “He talked about how much Israel could learn from American Jews, and how important it was for the two poles of the Jewish community to have a mutually respectful conversation.” (JTA)
YES, BUT…: Why did Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-Bronx/Westchester) and other House progressives vote “yes” on $1 billion in additional funding for Israel’s Iron Dome system?
- Progressives objected to the fast-tracking of a measure that was so one-sided in its support for Israel — but ultimately agreed with their more moderate colleagues that the Iron Dome was purely a defensive system, and “deserves support because it saved lives.” (JTA)
LAUGH TRACK: Former Minnesota senator Al Franken, who recently moved to New York to be near his grandchildren, has been honing his standup comedy act in clubs around the city. (New York Times)
- Why it matters: Forced to resign after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, the Democrat and former “Saturday Night Live” cast member doesn’t appear to have ruled out another run for office.
GAME OVER: “Ask Me Another,” the Brooklyn-based NPR quiz show hosted by comedian and storyteller Ophira Eisenberg, is ending its run after nine years and 260 episodes. (NPR)
FOOD COURT
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: The NY-based Orthodox Union will not be certifying the plant-based Impossible Pork as kosher, but not because of its ingredients. (JTA)
- Rabbi Menachem Genack, head of the OU’s kosher division, said it is a matter of “sensitivities”: A kosher product called “pork” would send the wrong message to kosher keepers and beyond.
ON THE HOLE: Celebrate all things bagel at Brooklyn’s BagelFest, happening this Saturday (don’t blame us) 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at BKLYN STUDIOS City Point in Downtown Brooklyn. (Gothamist)
- Tickets ($35 and up) let you enjoy bagels from 20-plus vendors, as well as bagel games, a photo booth, a “bagel experts” panel, bagel-centric art and a live musical performance from rapper Kosha Dillz.
RECIPE MYSTERY: The Washington Post has a recipe for “Jewish Apple Cake,” and tries to figure out how it got its name.
- Our two cents: We use a similar recipe that we got from a friend, who tells us her mother got it from “The Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook,” by the television pioneer Gertrude Berg.
TODAY’S BIG IDEA
Rachel Hartman and her sister grew up in a West Bank settlement, but took very different paths: Hartman is an academic devoted to teaching coexistence and is herself engaged to a non-Jew; her sister belongs to an extremist group that opposes romantic relationships between Israeli Jews and non-Jews. Nevertheless, she writes, “We agreed to disagree, then disagreed some more.” (JTA)
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GIVING & GETTING
Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration has teamed up with UJA-Federation, Shames Jewish JCC on the Hudson, Upwardly Global and JCC Mid-Westchester to collect needed items for newly arriving Afghan refugees. Nearly 30 regional synagogues have either signed up to be collection sites/drop-off locations, run their own internal drives or push the drive out to their communities by the Oct. 10 deadline. Go here for list of participating institutions. or buy and donate items here.
WHAT’S ON TODAY
The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights presents a discussion on the role of women in the resistance movement during the Holocaust. With Sheryl Silver Ochayon, program director, Echoes & Reflections, International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem, and Sheri Rosenblum, director of Development and Outreach, Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation. Register for this Zoom event here. Noon.
Join a Jewish community conversation with Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hosted by the American Jewish Congress. Menendez and AJC President Jack Rosen will explore American policy towards Israel, Iran and the broader Middle East. Register here. Noon.
Prof. Joel S. Kaminsky of Smith College will examine how early Christians and ancient rabbinic Jews each adopted the concept of “chosenness” in the Hebrew Bible, and how these approaches to chosenness both united and divided their communities. Register for this virtual Purchase College event here. 4:00 p.m.
Prominent comic book writers and editors join journalist Abraham Riesman, author of “True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee,” in a conversation about the role Jews have played in superhero culture, both as characters and creators. Register for this Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and the Society of Illustrators event here. 7:00 p.m.
Photo, top: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett walks back to his hotel after attending services for Shemini Atzeret at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan, Sept. 27, 2021. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
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